International legal mechanism of protection of the environment

The basic principles of international cooperation in the field of environmental protection. The need for international cooperation in the field of environmental protection is dictated more and more environmental dependence of all countries apart. The destruction of the earth's ozone layer, air pollution, the oceans, detrimental effects of nuclear explosions are not confined to those states where permitted environmentally dangerous activity, but also to the entire international community. Therefore, at present the state under the auspices of the UN or bilaterally arrange cooperation for the protection of the human environment, flora and fauna. The basis of this cooperation on a number of generally recognized by the international community of the principles of human activity in the field of environment. They are contained in part to international treaties and acts in the regulations of international organizations and are summarized in the decisions of the most important international conferences, fully or partially dedicated to environmental protection and regulation of cooperation of the states and peoples in the area.

For the first time the principles of international environmental cooperation were consolidated and merged in the Stockholm Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, but they were more fully set forth in the Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted by the UN Conference held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

At present, the international legal framework of environmental protection is based on the following principles:

- The principle of the protection of the operating system for the benefit of present and future generations, the essence of which is the duty of States to cooperate for the benefit of present and future generations, to take all necessary actions to conserve and maintain the quality of the operating system, including the elimination of the negative for her consequences, as well as rational and scientifically sound natural resource management;

- the principle of the inadmissibility of transboundary harm prohibits such actions by States within their jurisdiction or control which would impair the foreign systems of the environment and public areas, and assumes the responsibility of States for environmental damage operating systems of other countries and areas of public use;

- the principle of environmentally sound, sustainable use of natural resources due to the fact that the exhaustion of non-renewable natural resources like oil, gas, coal, in modern conditions undeveloped projects of alternative energy sources can lead to the collapse of industrial civilization; the depletion of the reserves of air and drinking water put into question the very existence of mankind. But despite the obvious importance of this principle, its implementation is difficult, especially over the general definition of its content. The essence of the implementation of the principle is to maintain natural resources in the optimal acceptable level, as well as science-based management of living resources;

-principle of non-radioactive contamination of the environment includes both military and peaceful use of nuclear energy. Creation and adoption of this principle is a contractual and usual way, in compliance with the existing international practice of States;

-principle of protection of ecological systems of the oceans requires States: to take all steps to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from all sources; not to transfer, directly or indirectly, damage or hazards from one area to another or transform one type of pollution into another; ensure that the activities of states and individuals under their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to other States and their environment by pollution, and that pollution arising from incidents or activities under the jurisdiction or control of States, does not spread beyond the areas where These states exercise their sovereign rights;

-principle prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques in a concentrated form expresses the duty of States to take all necessary measures for the effective prohibition of the use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any state;

- environmental security-principle reflects primarily a global and extremely acute international problems in the field of environmental protection. The elements of this principle can be considered the duty of States to carry out military-political and economic activities in such a way as to ensure the preservation and maintenance of an adequate environment;

-principle monitoring compliance with international agreements on environment protection envisages the creation, in addition to a national, also a system of international control and monitoring of environmental quality, to be implemented at the global, regional and national levels on the basis of internationally recognized criteria and the parameters;

-principle of international law of State responsibility for damage to the operating system assumes responsibility for significant damage to the ecological systems beyond national jurisdiction or control. While this principle is not fully formed, but its recognition is gradually expanding.